Help me pick my new 30 day challenge

Okay, I’ve finished roughly a year of 30 day challenges, and now I’d like your help picking new ideas. So far, I’ve done:
– 30 days with no TV (May)
– 30 days of 10,000 steps each day (June)
– 30 days biking into work (July)
– reading 15 books in 30 days (I only made it to 12) (August)
I took September off. I had a bunch of work I had to focus on.
– 30 days with no Microsoft software or operating systems (October)
– 30 days without Robert Scoble (November). I like Robert a lot; this was kind of a no-op/easy 30 day challenge to force me to find additional people that I’m interested in online.
– 30 days with no caffeine (December)
– 30 days with no Twitter or FriendFeed (January)
– 30 days with no iPhone (February)
– 30 days with no sugar (March). That was hard. My wife and I did this one together and it was the roughest.
– 30 days without replying to external email (April). This one was hard and I wasn’t perfect, but I got in much better balance on time spent on email.
– 30 days with no Facebook (May). This one was another easy one for me. I never used Facebook that much in the first place.

So what should I do now? So far I’m playing with two ideas:
– no email after 10 p.m. Email remains the biggest part of my life where I lack balance, and I still need to get it more under control.
– read 50 pages a day. This is one that my wife has been doing, and she’s been enjoying it.

Other possibilities include:
– 30 days as a vegetarian.
– read the Bible (or the Qur’an) in 30 days. I’ve never read either all the way through.
– 30 days of trying to learn to play guitar.
– meditate 10-15 minutes a day for 30 days.
– try one new thing a day for 30 days.
– draw something everyday for 30 days.
– try polyphasic sleep for 30 days.
– go 30 days spending as little money as possible.
– learn as much of a new language as possible in 30 days.
– 30 days to get my finances in order (I haven’t really paid attention to financial stuff as much as I should).
– try to write a novel/book in 30 days.
– write down one thing I’m thankful for each day for 30 days.

Okay, those are a few that I’ve come up with. Tell me your suggestions and then I might put up a poll to let people vote.

I think you should try 30 days of being an early-riser. Waking up far earlier than you normally would, say 4-6am or so? Depending on what time you normally get up.

See how much more you can get done in the day.

Another challenge I’ve read good things about in the UK – but you would probably never write about – is 30 days of intimacy (hugging, intercourse, dating). A number of studies were done on it and it proved to bring couples much closer together.

Of note, Matt, if you read the Bible, including Old Testament (1,184 pages) and New Testament (403 pages), you are pretty much pushed to read 53 pages a day, so you would get both done at once. Another idea, which I like, is to try reading the Book Of Mormon, which not only is a companion scripture to the Bible, reinforcing many of its teachings, but it’s only 531 pages, so you would not only get new stories about a very interesting religion, but only be driven to read just under 18 pages a day.

Reading it also will help you meditate (which you mentioned) and try something new (which you mentioned). I’m serious. I promise that you will find stories in the book that you will never forget – which are as fascinating as the prophets of the Old Testament and the miracles of the New Testament. So give it some thought. If you don’t have access to a copy, I’ll get you one.

30 days on a raw diet.
I myself have been experimenting with it and doing it.
Feels amazing and so much lighter. It is almost along the same line as your 30 day vegetarian diet but food is not cooked (no meat). I also like the previous poster’s idea of hot yoga. That is also on my list to do next.

How about 30 days of learning something new about the Arts every day? For example, you could use the “Random article” function on Wikipedia till you get to something art-related (and detailed enough) that you had no knowledge of, and then read it all the way through.

OK, I thought about it, and tried to come up with something off the wall – June is the anniversary month of John Wayne’s death – watch 31 JW movies, one for each year since his departure from this planet

– Watch a new documentary everyday for 30 days? You can solicit ideas or just go through the last 30 Academy Award winners. Or you could go through AFI’s top 100 films and if there are enough films you’re missing, you could do that as well

– Draw or paint everyday, either one new work per day or a multi day project like painting a room in your house

I would encourage you to read the Bible in 30 days. This could potentially be life altering!
But don’t start at Genesis 1:1, but use a reading plan like http://docs.purposedriven.org:8088/docs/sr/ft_PDL30DayBibleReadingPlan.pdf
This will give you an introduction. And find a good church where you can ask you questions which can arise from reading the Bible.
You will find out that the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life the Universe and Everything is not 42…
Good luck!
Marc

First thing that came to my mind was also the newspaper suggestion from Dan but what about 30 days without any written news.?

Do you and your wife both speak a foreign language? What about talking only in this language for your 30 days? Can be pretty hard sometimes. I tried it with my girlfriend for a few days but we quit because of some family affairs.

I’d suggest using it for trying out different things that you might want to be part of your life. Sort of like A/B split testing.

Which makes me happier? More exercise? Or less meat?

Along those lines, I like the vegetarian thing. Trick is doing it in a healthy, tasty way. (Yes, it’s easily possible to be an un-healthy vegetarian.) I tried that a while back. As a result, I still eat meat, but less of it.

Another one would be – get a proper night’s sleep every day for 30 nights.

Hi Matt,
I would like to suggest few list:
1. 30 days Plant a Tree and take care of those.
2. 30 days without servant(s)/maid(s). (Do your own Work as much as possible.)
3. 30 days save some penny (from your daily needs) and at the end of the period donate it to some charitable trust.
4. 30 days actively participate for some Social cause. (eg: Clean and Green world or Save Natural Resources or Against Terrorism.)
5. 30 days Be in touch with all near and dear.

You’ve done lots of things to balance yourself and help your company and others on the web — bet it would feel great to help some others. If not that, then meditation — that’s always my goal, because I need more quiet time to balance myself, but I don’t make it a priority so it never happens.

Matt,
In the larger scheme of things I think it’s good to regularly vary the challenge between micro vs. macro issues, immediate vs. long term health, and matters of the body, soul, and spirit.

So I really like the challenge of 30 days of reading through the Bible. Reading the entire Bible in 30 days is quite ambitious, so I’d rather challenge you to thoughtfully read through the New Testament in 30 days. Perhaps annually you could challenge yourself with a major world religion, tackling the Old Testament in some future month.

I vote against “read the Bible (or the Qur’an)”, I’ve done it and it’s not much bang for the buck.

I vote for new language (not programming language right?), if done right (immersion would be best, but Rosetta might be up your alley), as that is something that can dramatically change how you think if you become a true polyglot (and more languages makes it more so, in my experience).

If you decide to try writing a novel in 30 days, you should save that for November and participate in NaNoWriMo! That way you can connect with a community of people in your area who are working towards the exact same goal. It makes the entire process a lot more enjoyable.

I vote 30 days of the Bible (start to finish, it’s on my list – however, I someday want to do this in a language I am learning, all the basic vocabulary of any language is contained in this book.)
Quran not a bad idea either, I know nothing about this book.

If I were to do a non-spiritual thing, what about learning to draw – if you did this you could illustrate a lot of your points you write on this blog.

Weird, nobody mentioned the “30 Day Positivity Challenge” above. Look for the positive side in all life situations for 30 days. The exciting twist behind this is that if you let even one negative thought enter your mind for those 30 days, you’re back to Day 1. If a challenge is what you’re looking for, this is it. 😉

abbmuscles.visible=true in 30 days i did it too.. This may sound silly, but even if i wasn’t fat i didn’t *see* my 6 pack, and others have it with no exercise.. So then i got angry, and got them myself

We just got done with 30 days of no corn — came about after watching Food Inc and realizing just how subsidized the corn industry and how that effected the food supply… No Corn = no foods with corn products (Corn Meal, Corn Syrup, Corn Chips, etc.) The only exception was baking powder which contains corn starch — that would have been a challenge with kids.

Even though Thai is a tonal language, written in a unique alphabet, once you have mastered the alphabet, and a few basic rules you should be able to speak aloud 90% of Thai words.

The basic facts are, 44 consonants representing 21 distinct consonant sounds in 3 groups. Lots of vowel groups that can appear, before, above, after of the leading consonant, or in all 3 positions. 5 tones.
And some simple rules. E.g. ผม; ผ=p sound + ม=m sound, when no vowel asume o = pom, which means I, and hair See learnt 2 words already!

Learning the basics of an Asian language is a enlightening experience, and the first time you read another alphabet, its like the first time you understood C++ source…

There are lots of free resource on the web to read Thai, lots of twitter users, and lots of interesting facts about the language.
(e.g. notice that in Thai as in many other languages the tonel markers look similar to the digits 1 ่,2 ้,3 ๗,4 ๋ , some on their side.. )

May I suggest that you try writing a short note to your wife each day that contains some affirmation, compliment, or other relationship building message? I purchased some cheap valentine cards and use them as the note cards. I think you will find the benefits are tremendous. I find that this regimen helps me to avoid taking my wife for granted as much as I am used to doing.

What about 30 days with reading and trying to understand (!) the complete ingredient list on food you buy? (I only worry that the complete food industry might get banned from Google’s index after that…)

Try going vegetarian for 30 days. I’d be really interested to know how you get on and what you think.

I’d recommend trialling it on a more permanent basis but take a gradual approach to it… stop red meat first, then white meat and fish. I feel much better for it.

It’s also been interesting for me to try avoiding dairy and wheat. I feel better than I have felt for years. I seem to cope on very little sleep a lot better now and that’s probably my main downfall with trying to live a healthy life style now.

Your 30 Day Challenge – I would encourage you to read the Bible and here is an easy idea…read Proverbs, found in the Old Testament which has 31 chapters. If you picked a month with 31 days, you just read that chapter for that day of the month. If the month has only 30 days than read the last two remaining chapters on day 30. Proverbs is a great book of wisdom which is the overall theme of the book.

My other idea is do the first 30 days of P90X! I just finished my first 90 and feel like a million dollars. (This is not a shameless plug.)

30 days of trying something new every day is a good one. How about combining that with exploring your local environment? 30 days of dates with your wife to some place new every day? Or 30 days of talking to someone new from a different walk of life every day?

You could also do 30 days of doing something charitable every day. Donations alone shouldn’t count though, so you’d have to actually go out and give your time for a cause.

I, of course, think you should try 30 days without Google Search, since you already braved 30 days without Microsoft =) What about trying to become a Weekday Vegetarian? I found that to be a much easier Lenten vow than giving up meat completely for 40 days.

Polyphasic sleep is a fun one. Personally I tried it and have now settled into a routine of 4.5 hours per night plus two 25-minute naps on the bus to and from work (aided with Sleep Machine Lite on my iPod Touch). On the weekend I sleep normally for the extra time with my wife. I have also done full polyphasic sleep (difficult even with extra naps, and finding places to do two at-work naps is not fun) and the 3h sleep / 3 nap variant (mostly annoying due to finding a socially-acceptable place to nap during lunchtime; if I could find such a place I’d do this one).

I’ve heard many times of people complaining about needing more time. Well, this is one way to do it. If you decide to do it, definitely contact me; there seem to be very few successful polyphasic sleepers around.

I would vote for eating vegetarian, or weekday vegetarian or no red meat – whichever you think would most likely carry over to a long term trend. But to add a suggestion, how about no beverage container waste: no disposable cups, no bottled/packaged beverages. For any exceptions made, you keep the trash/recycling to the end of the month.

polyphasic sleep for 30 days. If you can pull this off you’re a legend…know lots of people that have tried it but never actually heard of anyone who actually managed to do it. Followed a very interesting blog by a guy who did it for 8 weeks, but overall he wasn’t successful. The glove is thrown….

I like read the Bible in 30 days. Just fyi, you can get a free New Testament online that has footnotes to help you understand the verses. This New Testament is awesome! Even if you don’t pick this challenge you can still get the free New Testament here: https://www.bfa.org/OrderStudyBible.aspx and if you want to set up a reading schedule you can do that here: http://www.readhisword.com/

I also like the idea of 10,000 steps a day for 30 days and someone’s comment about no corn for 30 days. It’d be hard considering how much corn is in our foods we buy everyday and probably don’t realize.

I like this idea though. You’re inspiring me to do one of these things and pick something new every 30 days. Great idea! Glad you’re writing about it.

I liked the:
30 good deed days
30 days of 8 hours sleep (tried it – very hard!!)
30 days photography
30 days drinking 2 liters of water a day – this is really a great health tip

My father used to smoke, but he always had one month a year when he didn’t, just to prove to himself that he could stop if he wanted to. Which month? February – the shortest month!
So, if you smoke – try a 30 days no smoking

Whatever you do, I just love the idea of monthly improvement ideas.
Good luck !

How about taking an hour break everyday for lunch and doing something active. I had a problem of eating while I was working and never actually taking a lunch break. I have been taking an hour every day and either jogging on the breach and relaxing at the pool for 20 minutes after or paddling out 1/2 a mile to catch a few waves for the past 30 days I have way more energy, more relaxed and am actually able to focus on getting a lot more done. I feel great so I am going to keep this habit!!

How about 30 days where you don’t put any plastic into landfill, 30 days where you don’t consume anything “new” in terms of clothing or household goods. (Buy anything you need secondhand) or spend 30 days reducing the trash you throw out into landfill by 75%.

I’ve been a vegetarian for 20 years, so I would lean toward that one. But actually, I think that spending little money for 30 days would be a good thing. I would take it even further- spend NO money at all for 30 days. It would really force you to be creative and reuse/recycle etc.

I vowed to read the Bible in one year a few years ago. My life changed that year in a permanent way. Best thing I’ve ever done. It’s the most read book in history for a reason and I think everyone should give it at least one go in their life (sooner than later). I agree with former comments though that if you really want to he anything out of it, just read the new testament. Paul’s writings have high enough idea density to make this a significant undertaking.

A bunch of people have already mentioned this, but the 30 day bikram yoga challenge can be pretty rewarding—my girlfriend had just finished one when I first met her. I suppose it doesn’t necessarily need to be bikram though/.
-=.

30 days studying and trying sincerely to understand a viewpoint you object to strongly: creationists, anti-abortion protesters, tea party activists, terrorists, New York Yankees fans … (OK, that last one’s a bit extreme).

I’m not particularly religious but have a graduate degree in history so I’d be inclined to read the Bible or Qur’an. Both would be a monumental task in 30 days but even if you didn’t succeed you’d come away with your own perspective on documents that guide or influence the daily lives of many millions of people.

Here’s one I’ve been meaning to try myself. 30 days of eating only food that was grown or raised within 150 miles of your home. You can give yourself 5 exceptions for items that aren’t locally produced such as coffee, sugar, olive oil, etc. Naturally this works better during a month when you aren’t travelling.

How about reading the Book of Mormon in 30 days. I’ve read the Bible and the Koran and they’re both excellent. Although, I think you’ll be more surprised and have an even greater impact if you read the Book of Mormon in 30 days.

I was going to suggest no sugar, but since you’ve already tried that, how about 30 days with no trash – just recyclable materials. It’d be quite the challenge, but what a difference a month could make!

Try and take an interesting photo each day. Upload them to your Picasa web album. You’ll never look at the world the same again once you start looking at everything as a photographer does. You may end up like me, and start to carry a camera everywhere with you (a real one, not your iPhone).

Why don’t you try to PUT SMILE on peoples face till 30 days (at-least 2-5 people a day). This will help you to SMILE and let others smile too. You might get bless by God (If you believe in that). Else from your list I like the Vegetarian one.

After reading through the comments I wanted to add that I love the idea of 30 days of saying Yes. It has to be harder than you’d think! The counter to that would be 30 days of saying No! How empowering!
How about 30 days of gratitude. – Every day reach out to someone and give them a meaningful thank you or make note of something/someone you’re truly grateful for.

And this last one is much harder than you’d think. I know, I tried it. One real, honest, look you in the eyes and notice you, kiss that lasts more than 5 seconds every day for 30 days. Does wonders for your relationship.

– 30 days no google search
– 30 days new blog: after the 30 somebody will win the new blog
– 30 days only bing
– 30 days barbecue every day
– 30 days no fastfood
– 30 days using the only nokia 3210 cellphone

Hi Matt. How about 30 days “batting for the other team” – helping a charity get “the most they can” from Google. I’m thinking SEO, Adwords, Website Optimiser, YouTube presence, Analytics etc etc. I know it’s a bit work-oriented, but would make a great case study for every charity out there! Of course, I’d suggest The Children’s Trust, based here in the UK jd

I’m surprised the ‘no sugar’ thing was the hardest thing so far. I have bought 1kg of sugar in the past 3 years, purely to put in the coffee of guest, otherwise i have no need for it. It’s a habit i guess or maybe i’m just lucky not to get sweet cravings.

as for the new challenge, i think 30 days spending as little as possible is worth a try. It’s something i occasionally try after feeling guilty for buying lot’s of new toys and gadgets and it amazes me both how hard it is (yet rewarding too) and how little people really NEED to get by. Sure society is built on consumerism but in the long term, a frugal lifestyle is probably the best thing to do for the planet.

I have read your post and all the comments. From which I like some
Your idea to read Quran or Bible or you can choose Ramayan, Geeta as well is good. You can do plantation every day and take care of it.
From my suggestion you have to take atleast 30 min. of time a day for 30 days and spend them with orphaned children, showing care, playing with them, make them happy.
I am sure this moments will include in the most happiest and memorable moments of your life. .
I think you like this idea and give it a try.

Hi Matt,
It is interesting to see that you are open minded enough to be willing to read Quran.
However, I do not suggest you start reading Quran because you will not be able to understand or fully grasp concepts (religious concepts, infact). I recommend reading “The Bible, the Qur’an and Science” by Dr. Maurice Bucaille. It is a famous book and it will serve as an introduction to Quran.
It is my first time I am writing to you, reading is also my favorite past time, I will be more than happy if you can suggest something to me also. 😉
Thanks.

Hi Matt,
how about a virtual around the world in 30 days visiting as many different websites from different countries in that time, you could even do a running commentry / blog about the best ones you see (and maybe find out how good Google translate is about each language).

30 days with no drink containers thrown into the trash — only reusable, returnable or recyclable containers allowed, but only if you really reuse (glasses, cups, mugs), return (does something like this exist in the U. S., returning glass or PET bottles for cleaning and refilling to retrieve a deposit?) or recycle (e. g. glass and PET bottles into the proper recycling containers).

30 days without an alarm clock. This will force you to go to bed when you’re tired and wake up when you’re fully rested. Worried about getting up early enough in the morning? You’ll have to go to bed earlier. This is one of the biggest health areas where we (Americans) can improve our overall well-being.

Buy yourself a nice box of writing paper and a pen that feels comfortable. For the next 30 days, write someone who has made a difference in your life. Write them a real letter. On paper. With a live stamp–no stamps.com for you.

After you run out of some of the more obvious choices, maybe your wife has a relative who encouraged a certain hobby or attribute. Write that person. Reach out on a personal letter writing campaign to the people who changed your life–teachers, old bosses, co-workers, maybe someone who you didn’t work with, but was always cheerful.

As much as we jump into the cloud, as much as we Kindilize (I want credit for that term) print, as much as we use create Gmail boxes that never fill and hold the stories of our recent past, nothing beats a letter written by someone longhand.’

I think you give 10 – 15mins meditation for a month. I am sure you will love it ! Its a process which can help you rejuvenate and doubles our normal imaginative thinking. I feel its more like a investment.

Here’s a different thought. Each day for 30 days track down someone of a religion or spiritual faith that is not your own. Talk with them about their faith, with the intention of understanding their faith from their point of view. You’ll find that, even if you double up on the same faiths with different people, you will learn new perspectives that will inform your own faith as well as learning how similar all these beliefs really are.

I vote for 10-15 minutes of meditation each day. I do it each morning with my b/f every day. We start by reading an inspirational book (so we get our reading done too), then we meditate together. It’s wonderful to connect with your mate this way and to your own higher self.
Bonnie

Hi Matt,
invest in your relationship:
– 30 days of making your wife coffee tea in the morning
– 30 days of eating dinner lunch together
– 30 days of cooking the whole meal / 1 dish for her
– 30 days of sitting with your wife to talk – no emails / phones / sms in the middle
– 30 days of writing your wife 1 reason note, why you love her

Oh, I would love to read a novel by Matt Cutts, but I think “novel” is defined as a fictional story. What I would love is for Mr. Cutts to write a book about his experience at Google, inside scoop on original algorithms back in the day and what some of the stories and thought process is to providing users the best results. If you were to write a novel, how about a fictional story of a SEO guru working at a search engine company that ended up dominating the world.

I just came across your website and LOVE the 30 day goals. I work really well with specific goals, too. My ideas for another 30 days were:

-meditate/pray for a certain amount of time (saw that that was one you are already thinking of)
-liked your idea to read 50 pages every day.
-talk to a stranger every day for 30 days
-don’t spend money for 30 days (do some serious grocery shopping first)

The best way to stick to diet changes is to make food that is super delicious. My suggestion is to try cooking a new, healthy and delicious recipe for 30 days straight. Each day you should have attempt a recipe in either the protein, carb or veggie category. At the end of the 30 days, you’ll have 10 balance meals that you can prepare yourself. Cooking is one of my passions, or you could do culinary school. Just a thought.

Limit (or expand) the number of photos you take for 30 days.
Take one and only one photo per day. Plan each day’s one photo.
To change it up – Maybe you could rotate thru all the photo taking devices you have.
The 30 day Challenge: Everyday plan/shoot one photo – using various devices – share results with us daily.

You should try reading the Bible and only listening to Inspirational Music for 30 days. I guarantee that you will feel like a totally different person after those 30 days.
Maybe I should do this one myself.

Back in college I had a nice polyphasic sleep schedule where I’d sleep a core 2 hours and then take two 30 minute naps at intervals throughout the day.

It was amazing because as soon as you fell asleep, you’d hit REM and be super charged for the remainder of the day.

You’ll be surprised to see how much you can get done with 2 – 4 extra hours each day – just think of it as more time to spend with family and friends or work on new projects that you’ve been putting off.

Also, since you’re up later you can meet all kinds of really cool people that are on the net during the early hours.

One word of warning however, your body does need sleep and a prolonged sleep schedule like this could have health effects but if you’re only doing it for 30 days you should be fine but I’m not a doctor (just had to put that out there).

i was thinking to say, 30 Days without Google ;). But it would be the ever challenging as not being on job is something very difficult, until or unless you get paid for leaves. As i got in Getmore :D.

What about trying,

– 30 days writing your day experience about biking to office and spending less bucks.
Both are good for your health and finance.
– read the Bible (or the Qur’an) in 30 days.
– do 30 days round about on social media and blogging.
– 30 days eating boiled vegetable and no soda at all.

I vote for meditation. It’s amazing the impact this can have. You’ll notice small changes in your way of thinking that make a huge positive impact on your life. Hopefully you’ll grow to love it and keep it up.

Seconding Jessica’s idea – a handwritten, on-paper, in an envelope with a stamp thank you note every day for 30 days. Could be an old teacher, that person at the supermarket that is especially nice, or whatever.

I would think about doing the 30 days vegetarian or 30 days vegan if you have never tried either before – but if you really want to challenge yourself, try only eating living (raw) foods for thirty days!

Hey Matt, I like your idea about writing a book in 30 days but that’s easy. I’d challenge you to write, publish and sell 10,000 copies of a book in 30 days. I know it’s possible, especially if you take advantage of all the technology you are immersed in. I’d be happy to mentor you through it. Mash

I’d suggest 30 days of sleeping in. Don’t set any alarms just let yourself wake up naturally for the whole 30 days. I’m sure you’ll feel like a champion after all that sleep. You may even be able to train yourself to wake up at a set time without an alarm if you need to do so (work etc).

Or 30 days without listening to the same music.

Great idea to set yourself a 30 day challenge in the first place, good stuff.

Instead of reading the Bible (certainly a noble task), how about actually putting into practice 30 teachings/commands of Jesus? I think you’ll find this the most difficult of your 30-day challenges and the most life-transforming.

How about this: If you’re a right-hander, do everything with the left hand for a week (or vice versa). Teeth brushing, eating & drinking, preparing food, open tins, open wine bottles, pour from milk/measuring jugs, using pencils….be careful and use use left-handers scissors…:)

It’s proven that you develop new brain synapses if you try this long enough!

Sounds like you’re easily up for the New York Times “Unplugged” challenge! http://nyti.ms/9ZYIxF
I’m trying to decide what to do. I already deactivated my Facebook account a few weeks ago, and that’s been an easy one. Maybe I’ll go for no cell phone for a few days. I see you already did that for 30 days, and that’s impressive! Hmm…

as it makes you see the world or yourself or your friends or your future…very differently…

You have to know a lot of Chinese migrant workers earn about 1,000Yuan per month with very hard working in a very expensive city.

Sometimes you need see standing in the positioin of bottom people.

It is a great idea for you are standing in your position to listen what your readers to suggest you what is best advanture for you as you got about 300 more free heads…to think. I read these suggestions and I found many of them are quite good, some of them are even better than your suggesion.

May I suggest you donate the money which you save from “go 30 days spending as little money as possible” to author wanglili to support her to write independently as all the good articles are writen by independent heart such as Art of War, historical Records…Tang Poem…Memoir of a stone…Memoir of a Chinese migrant worker…? and independent authors are very hard to survive today.
According to xinhua web news, we know China Gov pays 200 China Gov hired authors 0.7 Billion Yuan per year. In fact, these 200 authors get much more as there are a lot of fund coming to them. at the same time, America Gov and many other countries Gov somehow join China Gov to pay more to those 200 authors.
Indedent authors normally dont have these opportunities. and also they are very hard to get payment from their writings. In Tang Dynasty China, a lot of rich are huries to buy poems from poets like today rich are huries to buy luxury so that Tang Poets can survive and Tang Poems are gold in China Culture history. but today, people no matter rich or poor are hurried to buy LV, Prada…as luxury and want free from authors.

People say, at today, human being dont need literature any more, but
Can you imagine what is going on when human being speak like Google translation or Hillary free internet talk in Chinese?

and,
May I suggest you to learn from author wanglili Art of War or Historical Records every day for 30 days via skype or …Google Talk so that you can have a better war? or you can offer author wanglili accomodation at your home to learn from her Art of War or Historical Records every day for 30 days?

by the way, thanks for this post, I will learn from you to have my challenge. it is really good for human being not to do something for a while which we do every day or quite often or use to do..

I’d say draw something every day for 30 days. Creating art is a wonderful way of stimulating the right side of the brain. Think of it as cross-training for the brain, since most of us use the left side primarily (hence it gets the more of a “brain workout”).

Definitely go for the guitar option! Nothing is sweeter than dedicating a good 30 days to learning how to play a few tunes on your guitar (electric or acoustic), and showing off your new talent when you’re confident enough to play – and yes, you WILL want to show it off. Nothing is cooler than the guy/gal that can jam out on command! (Plus, it gives you an excuse to buy a guitar if you don’t already have one

Hi Matt
How about 30 days without talking to the wife
– Sorry, I was just thinking about myself :-))
Or
30 Days of reading these blog comments (there’s so many)
O.K. my best one, 30 days without a computer.
Whichever task you choose, I wish you all the best wish it.

30 days of learning about a new country every day (for about 10-15 minutes each day).
30 days of brushing your teeth after lunch (as well as in the morning and the evening).
30 days of doing push-ups and crunches in the morning or evening.
30 days of cooking your own dinner.
30 days of no computer / iPhone / other device that bring you online, before you arrive at work.

This is a must, I’d move it to the top of the list:
– 30 days to get my finances in order (I haven’t really paid attention to financial stuff as much as I should).
Check out Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover (it changed our lives).

But if you don’t do that, I vote for: 1 SEO video per day for 30 days.

30 days of getting rid of the sites that disguise themselves as something innocent and lure kids to them, only to open up as hardcore porn. Pages that are getting ranked for absolutely nothing but a bunch of porn photos on a non-porn designated site.

People work hard to get their sites ranked with real content, only to be shoved aside by this garbage.

There are a ton of suggestions here, whatever you choose it should be fun and should be beneficial. Now I don’t know if you ever done this, but here is my idea. Which ever one you choose, I would add, you film it and post it on youtube.

Anyway, here are some of my ideas…

1. 30 days in a wheelchair. (Just to experience what is like)
2. 30 days of doing one act of random kindness.
3. Posting a decent post to your blog for 30 days. (Just a Decent Informative Post about Something You are Passionate about)
4. For 30 days doing something outside of your comfort zone. (If your brave enough)

I’m sure I can think of more, but don’t want to make this comment too long.

It’s been mentioned twice, but I’d definitely re-affirm and say at some point you should really try Raw Food for 30 days. The benefits are amazing and you may just stick with it after your 30 days are up. I went raw because I got ill, and not too long ago at that, and I can tell you it has completely cut my sugar cravings and other bad habits 😛 Mind you, you may need a juicer to help you out on that.

Note how many places you have the word “try” in your prospective challenges. Replace the word “try” with “fail” in each place: 30 days of failing to learn to play guitar, fail at one new thing a day for 30 days, fail polyphasic sleep for 30 days, etc. After all, when your goal is to try, failing is perfectly acceptable. Words matter!

I would suggest a challenge worthwhile, something that improves your health, knowledge or otherwise is benificiary for you… and mankind. Like planting a tree a day, use as little electricity a day as possible, say or do something that makes someone (different everyday) really happy.

I personally think the “write a story/novel in 30 days” is a great one. I participate in NanoWrimo every November, which is where you write a 50,000 word novel in a month. But yours wouldnt have to be that long = )

Try Ramadhan. I’m not Muslim, but I’m an American living in Malaysia, so I have decided that I will try it. Go an entire month without food or beverage during daylight hours. You are only allowed to eat or drink ANYTHING while the sun is down. For me, this means I will be starting my days earlier to fill up with food and water to last me until after sunset.

Hey bro how about trying to cook a new foreign dinner for you and the wife every night for 30 days? Look online for Chinese, Russian, Mexican, Irish, Native American, German, etc. Maybe you will find a new interest in the culinary part of your life and pick up a fun new hobby.

This is such a fun idea. I really think that you should go 30 days without using your office phone or responding to emails as long as they are within a 5-10 min walking distance. When someone calls go to their office instead. Face to face contact makes a huge difference. It is like great advertising for your face!

Polyphasic sleep is really hard in the beginning and your body will take about a moth to adjust, so right as you’re starting to benefit you will have to stop. I don’t recommend that one. How about “only eat foods produced within X miles of where you live?” Then, even if you stop, you will be more aware of what your surroundings have to offer and perhaps you will have discovered some delicious dairy farm near by.